The 21st Century Automotive Challenge will give visitors a chance to check out vehicles powered by a number of alternative energy sources, including electricity, compressed natural gas and biodiesel. Vehicles will be on display from 10 to 2 on Saturday, May 18, at the MorningStar Solar Home.

A 70-foot-tall wind turbine was installed Friday, July 22, at Penn State's nine-acre Sustainability Experience Center. Serving as both a source of clean, renewable energy and a research tool, the turbine is being funded by a Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) grant awarded to Penn State's Center for Sustainability in 2007 for development of the Hybrid Residential Energy Systems (HyRES) Laboratory. In addition to providing renewable energy generation for the laboratory, the turbine will be used as an educational tool in the Pennsylvania Wind for Schools program. Similar wind turbine systems are planned for installation at 10 to 15 schools across the state over the next three years as a part of the program.

You don't need a turbine to tell which way the wind's blowing, but the blades generating electricity as they spin indicate a new direction at Penn State Hazleton. For more than 75 years, students have started their education in Hazleton and transitioned to University Park or another campus to finish their degrees. Now a slight breeze is pushing in the other direction. Students from University Park and other campuses are arriving in Hazleton to earn a bachelor's degree offered at no other Penn State campus and at few other universities. The bachelor of science in general engineering with an alternative energy and power generation track prepares students to design wind turbines, make buildings and businesses more efficient energy consumers, and perfect systems to absorb power from sun, tides and the depths of the earth.

The Wind Application Center at Penn State is now accepting applications for Pennsylvania's new Wind for Schools project. The program aims to engage rural elementary and secondary school teachers and students in wind energy education while educating college students about wind energy applications.

Penn State has received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for workforce training and development in smart electrical grids. The government program is designed to modernize the nation's electrical grid and implement smart grid technologies in communities across the country. The grant will fund the proposal "Workforce Training for the Electric Power Sector" and create the Smart Grid Training and Application Resource (GridSTAR) Center. The project's principal investigator is David Riley, professor of architectural engineering and director of the Center for Sustainability.

Penn State has been awarded $2.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for two projects that could change the way the nation uses and produces energy. The money, funded through the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, is part of a second round of funding of the Recovery Act of 2009, U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania announced Thursday (April 29).

Pennsylvania Fuels for Schools and Beyond, a statewide working group promoting local, renewable energy alternatives for Pennsylvania schools and businesses, is holding a public meeting from 10 a.m. until noon on May 30 in the Special Events Building at Penn State's Ag Progress Days site at Rock Springs, nine miles southwest of State College on Pa. Route 45. The meeting is being held in conjunction with Timber 2009 -- Forest Products Equipment and Technology Exposition.

Pennsylvania's attention is captivated by the serious business of fluctuating fuel prices, the future of the environment and economic independence. But the Commonwealth needs a little fun, too. So this year, Penn State's Ag Progress Days, set for Aug 19-21, will offer information on the issues that matter even as it provides a wide range of fun and educational activities sure to appeal to children and families.